Having To Let Go
by Aventri
Summary: [ONESHOT] She needed more than friendship, and if she couldn't get that, it made seeing him everyday like torture. Tenten makes a decision that will force him to action, or will allow her to move on... hopefully. NejiTen


**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters from the Naruto universe.

**A.N.** No seriously, I don't know what but it's like the switch for writing in my brain has been turned on. None of this is great mind you, but it's what's coming out. If ANYONE wouldn't mind being a beta reader, I'd gladly appreciate the help. And if anyone could tell me the things I'm missing in my stories (as I feel the last few chapters and things I've put out there are fundamentally missing a key element... but I'm not sure what.) I'd be forever in your debt. Anyways, hope you enjoy, please RxR.

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How long it had been since she'd been to the old training grounds Tenten couldn't remember. Needless to say it felt like it was a lifetime ago. As she leaned up against one of the trees in the area, the tips of her fingers felt the slashes in the wood; the remaining memories of her weapon training made physical. 

It was nostalgic for her to come back to these woods, she could almost envision the ghosts of her younger years. Though it was past dusk on a brisk fall night and the inconsistent wind nipped at any of her exposed skin, in her head were those bright summer days when she was a teenager. Between the falling rust colored leaves she watches her past unfold.

"Tenten. There you are, I was beginning to get worried."

Her head drops a few inches and when she looks back up, she hides the memories behind a cheerful smile. It's never polite to smile at your fiance while thinking of other men, but sometimes the best way to forget the past is with a happy facade.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to visit this place one more time."

"You forgot your jacket at the restaurant; come on now, put this on, it's colder this time of year."

She doesn't chide him for his good intentions, but a part of her wants to remind him that she was once a ninja. She was once considered the weapons mistress of Konoha. She was once more than just a bride to be. All of these things go unsaid everywhere but in the back of her mind, and even that voice is slowly being buried with the rest of her former life. With his unneeded help she allows the jacket to be placed over her shoulders. A grateful smile is how she forms her face before thanking him.

"It's almost time to go, but how was that dinner, huh? I felt like the whole village came out to see you off."

"Almost," is the word that slips under her breath at a barely audible level.

"Pardon me?" The joy on his rose colored cheeks shows his innocence of both her words and their motive. When the wind blows hard and howls between the trees and their branches, he grips his jacket closed tighter. His smile pervades and shows that his intentions are too good for her. No matter how much she thought she may have wanted this in the past versus how much it's hurting her now, she decides that she can't hold the pain against him. It's not his fault she said 'yes'.

"It's nothing. Are we heading out now?"

"Not quite, there's a few more things to handle, and I think your parents are still saying their goodbyes to people."

"I see."

"Oh hey, I've got to make sure that our carriage is all packed up. Is there any food you want me to get for the trip; it's kind of a long ride if you remember."

"No thank you, but if you can get me something to drink, I think I'd like that."

Rational voices chime in with all the reasons why this young, rich man is going to make her ultimately happy. They talk about how this man tried hard to make Tenten happy. They say how he's going to allow her to live a relaxing life, and how there's not even a risk of him dying on the battle field. They quote him when he says he loves her.

"I'll get a couple of different kinds, you can choose which ones you like on the way there. I'll meet you back in town when you're done here, okay?" He cares, he provides, and he also gives her the space she needs because he can understand her. Tenten can't think of anything about that man that she hates, but she already knows the one thing she'd change about him if she could change anything.

He'd be a different person.

The streets of Konoha are quiet as she walks down the stone paths. All over the village people are settling down in their homes for the night. With the lights on, they're like Silhouettes that move across the curtains. They dance to the play of their lives in every household, and Tenten thinks of how her shadow will look in the windows of her new house. She suspect that it'll be exactly the same as the people she's watching now except that tomorrow, these people will still be shinobi.

And naturally, the dual intentions of the voices in her head are confusing. Does she want to leave? Can she bear to stay? Her thoughts only seem to come out in statements, but the questions they provoke never seem to be answered. It's mental exhaustion that causes her to lean her back against one of the trees on the side of the road, but it doesn't mean that she doesn't notice his presence on the opposite side.

She doesn't walk around to tree to be face to face with him. She doesn't even turn around when she speaks. She just looks on, into the night sky. She watches the moon and the clouds that shift in the heavens in futility to cover it. To that partially hidden moon she speaks.

"I'm leaving tonight."

When you speak to the moon, you don't care if anyone can hear you, and you don't care if you get a response.

"I'm not coming back."

"He doesn't deserve you." The voice comes from behind her, but her replies are still skyward bound.

"No one has ever told me what I do or don't deserve. But I know what he's offering, and it's more than I've ever gotten."

The silence is deafening, and of all the words she might have wanted to say, only the hurtful ones came out. Now, everything else that could be said, all of those apologies; all the things that needed to be said were caught painfully in her throat. It's that pain that causes a tear to roll down her cheek.

"He says he loves me." She says, defending her decision.

"He can't..." The words floats in the air like the slowly falling crimson leaves.

"He can't love you like I do."

His hand reaches back, open ready to hold hers. Tenten returns the move with her own hand, and for a moment which will last forever in her heart, they connect. She's always worked hard for his respect. For him, she's been the ninja above all others, but none of her training can keep the tears inside from falling.

She doesn't trust her own voice, but she knows she has to speak. She has to say something to him.

"Neji, I..."

Her mind races to finish the sentence. Neji, it's not too late. Neji, you're the only one. Neji, make me stay. Neji, I love you too.

"Neji, I-"

"Found you!"

And the moment is gone. Her fiancé is walking down the street to her with a bag of drinks in each hand. Before he gets close enough to see her hand being held, before he can see who is on the backside of the tree, she puts on her smiling mask and replies to him. As she talks, she pulls her hand away from being held and walks towards her future.

"Hey, are we ready to go?" It's her ninja training that allows her to say this without having her voice crack.

"Yep, we sure are." There's a pause by him. "Um, are you alright, you look like you were crying..."

"Oh it's just this darn wind," She says with a forced laugh. "I was watching the moon, and I guess my eyes must have dried out. It's nothing."

"Okay..." The moment of silence is a question to which she answers with a smile.

He shifts the bags to left hand and reaches to her with his right. "Well, we've got to go. Say goodbye to Konoha, and then we're off."

She closes the distance to her soon to be husband and takes his hand. Turning back to where she just came from, she looks at the tree, but she speaks to the one leaning behind it.

"Goodbye... Konoha."

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**Added A.N. **Look, I know I have some smart readers out there, but I just had to point this out, because I personally find it fascinating. The moon, a pale silver orb that hangs in the sky, and Neji's eyes are similar right? And so when she speaks to the moon, it's a wonderful double meaning. Anyway, I was going for melodrama, and some serious angst. Please tell me if I got it wrong, if the drama isn't real enough for adults, and/or if the dialogue is cheesy. I'd like to change it to make it better, and any suggestions and critiques are greatly appreciated. 

**P.S. **I was possibly thinking of doing a prequel of how it got this way, but I'm not sure. I'll base it's creation on what the readers want, but I have the sad suffering beginning already thought up. )

**P.P.S.** Okay it was brought up that this story might be considered a TentenxOC fic, but I'm going to strongly disagree. This is the reason why the fiance has no name. What will become clear in the prequel, and perhaps even the sequel to this story is that this is indeed a NejiTen pairing. I was just inspired recently by **_Laereryn _**and how she was so amazingly able to get into Tenten's head, so I challenged myself to do the same in a very dramatic circumstance.


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